Finland Threatens to Leave Euro Rather Than Pay Debts of Others

FINLAND would consider leaving the eurozone rather than paying the debts of other countries in the currency bloc, Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen has said.

In a newspaper interview today she said she'd consider crashing her AAA-rated country out of the eurozone.

“Finland is committed to being a member of the eurozone, and we think that the euro is useful for Finland. Finland will not hang itself to the euro at any cost and we are prepared for all scenarios.

“Collective responsibility for other countries' debt, economics and risks; this is not what we should be prepared for. We are constructive and want to solve the crisis, but not on any terms,” she said.

Meanwhile, eurozone officials are cautioning against expecting any quick action from the currency bloc's finance ministers when they meet on Monday to sort out the tangle of loose ends and disagreements left by last month's EU debt-crisis summit.

Time-frames may already be slipping and opposition is building in euro zone hardliners the Netherlands and Finland.

"You have a Finnish problem. You have a Dutch problem. You have a German problem too," said one euro zone diplomat, ..."I don't see a package done by Monday."

Eight Things To Remember

The ESM is supposed to be in place by July 9th. Think that's going to happen?